Maffei to Challenge Buerkle in Bid for Old Seat

Former Rep. Dan Maffei (D) will declare his candidacy Wednesday for the seat he narrowly lost to Republican Ann Marie Buerkle in 2010, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.

“Ann Marie Buerkle has had eight months to show some sort of willingness to compromise and get things done for the district or the country, and she remains as radical as ever,” Maffei told the newspaper.

Maffei was unseated after one term by Buerkle, who beat him by less than 700 votes out of more than 200,000 cast in New York’s 25th Congressional district. The vote-counting stretched on for weeks beyond the election.

The Syracuse-anchored district voted 56 percent for Barack Obama in 2008, but with redistricting and the loss of two seats in New York due to population decline, it’s unclear how the partisan makeup of the 25th will shift.

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March 13, 2015

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., right, hugs Harold Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, after the Congressman spoke at the IAFF's Legislative Conference General Session at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, March 9, 2015. The day featured addresses by members of Congress and Vice President Joe Biden.